robinschroder Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Ich bin dein Expeditionsleiter, Doktor Robin Schroder. I was itching to ride EGF again, so on Tuesday 9th September 2008 I took the Eurostar to Paris from London (2 1/2 hour journey), I had a few hours in Paris to break up the journey and then I took the ICE (Intercity Express) train from Paris to Kaiserslautern in Germany (another 2 1/2 hour journey). From there I took the S-Bahn (local train, 30 mins) to Neustadt an der Weinstraße where I stayed overnight. On Wednesday 10th September, I travelled one more stop on the S-Bahn from Neustadt to Haßloch where I met Peter / 'PeeJay' and he drove us for about 10 minutes over to Holiday Park! It was a bit of a cloudy day to begin with (a shame as it transpired that the weather on the days either side was lovely!) but it was not at all cold the whole day, and that was the main thing! There were very few people at the entrance gate as schools had already resumed and it was the end of the summer season - also the not-so-great weather forecast probably helped! After a wander around the front of the park, we were allowed through to the back at 10:00 and we headed straight for Expedition GeForce! We got on the first train of the day (towards the back) and although it certainly wasn't the best ride we had that day, you could hardly call it bad... I mean, it's Expedition GeForce!!! We headed over to the Starflyer and took a terrifying spin, by which time the rain had unfortunately set in and we decided to shelter for a little while since Holiday Park isn't exactly huge, and we had all day to check in with GeForce! After a ride on Holiday Park's (in)famous dark ride, we took shelter in one of the cafés until the rain subsided. The park was still very quiet, which was great! Very few people seemed to be coming in, although after having laughed a lot in the past at GeForce's warning sign that animals aren't allowed to ride, I did see a couple enter the park with their dog! Once the rain had gone, it stayed reasonably cloudy but dry for a few hours. GeForce seemed to continue to 'warm-up' and it was one-train operation (with the 'yellow' train - which doesn't really help as they're both slightly different shades of yellow!!). This was no problem seeing as it was either a walk-on or a one-train wait to get the back seat all day!! It was like an 8-hour ERT session! Ha ha! On some early rides you could really feel the first trim before the 'S-curve hill' as well as the second trim before the final bunny hills on a couple of rides. However, this gradually eased up and by about 1pm / 2pm GeForce was really flying!! You could still feel the first trim a little - Peter said a little more than when TPR were there in the summer, but we both agreed definitely a lot less than when we were there with TPR the year before. The second trim didn't really make much difference, especially by the end of the day. Plus the final bunny hills were so much better than they had been last year! In between rides on GeForce, we did pretty much everything else in the park and never had to wait in line for anything! I love their log flume, their (Olympic themed!?)drop tower is really intense - although drop towers freak both of us out anyway, and the Starflyer is even more fun when it's not raining! We even did Super-Wirbel (Vekoma corkscrew with Beyerncurve, no less) for nostalgic reasons as it was both of our first ever coasters way back when! This makes more sense for Peter, although it's more complicated for me! It's funny as it seemed a lot faster than I remembered it being - although we were pretty far back in the train - and not too rough all things considered. That said, we were definitely in the Vekoma brace position! It did unfortunately start to rain a little again in the mid-afternoon, but after that had cleared, the sun came out - even better for some photos! It was really interesting to see GeForce's performance dip a little as a result of the turn in the weather, but it soon got back up to how it had been running earlier - in fact even a little better by the end of the day! That drop, the first hill and then the insane ejector second hill... what more do you need?! And it was so nice to get good airtime on all 4 of the final bunny hills - something that hadn't really happened last year. What a great ride!! Worth all the travelling out there, and it was great to catch up with Peter again! Check out a selection of pictures from my funny cameras below! As a side note, Peter kindly gave me a lift back to Neustadt, I stayed at the same hotel overnight and then on Thursday 11th I took the train back to Kaiserslautern and then from Kaiserslautern back to Paris. There was unfortunately a 1 1/2 hour delay on the trip back to Paris due to a problem on the high speed line. Nevertheless, I still had time to go to the Pompidou Centre (Modern Art Gallery), wander over to the Eiffel Tower area and get something to eat... before I heard that the Eurotunnel was closed due to fire, so my train back to London wouldn't be running!!! Cut a long story short, I ended up having to find a hotel in Paris (not before having travelled to the airport and back to investigate flights), stay in Paris unexpectedly overnight, get up early on Friday and head up to Calais (due to there still being no Eurostar trains) where I then eventually got on a ferry to Dover (along with thousands of other stranded people) and then a really slow train back home. I ended up spending over 2/3 of my original budget again on just getting home, although that's currently being claimed back! It was quite exciting though (if not a little stressful) and I still maintain it was worth it all just to get on GeForce again! Sunset in Neustadt and der Weinstraße The day was done and I returned to my hotel Hey, this one's for you Big Mike! Count the rubber duckies! A special 'Shocktober' orange tractor quite literally made out of oranges... Not so much love for Superwirbel, though Gotta love the Starflyer! The other train stayed in bed all day... Back to the station And the (in)famous Pipi Station! Lots of intamin track! Lots of airtime! As well as the first hill! ...drop!!!!! ...that... Love... A few more people... but that's as busy at it got! It's like our own personal ERT... all day! Hanging out by the EGF jeep EGF is brought to you by BIG MIKE FM! EGF with its 'Shocktober' theming! The next day at Neustadt Böbig station I took the ICE to Kaiserslautern in Germany More pigeons! Notre Dame mashed up with some trees A brief stop in Paris to see this pigeon at Notre Dame The Eurostar trains Sir John Betjemen at London St Pancras station home of the Eurostar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinschroder Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 A few more... Where were you Sir John Betjeman when I was stranded? Followed by complete chaos at Paris Gare du Nord! Eiffel Tower in-camera mashup Eiffel Tower pigeon Pompidou foyer mashup Up to the art galleries... Centre Georges Pompidou Some pylons from the ICE train window At Kaiserslautern Hauptbahnhof Sunrise in Neustadt back at the station Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Thanks for posting these artsy photos of my favorite coaster! I was there with TPR earlier this summer and EGF just kicked major ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wood Dragon 1988 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Wow, really awesome photo-editing. I will ride that ride someday.... hopefully with TPR as my guide with ERT and beer included. Thanks for posting PS: I really like how EGF's station is outdoors! It looks so weird and simple, but really cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillerman1 Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Amazing photo effects. I love it. Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olsor Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Very cool pictures! I was just in Kaiserslautern last year (on the way to Holiday Park, of course). I only missed World Cup by 10 months... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peejay Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Hey Robin! Loved your trip report, your pictures came out great. That really was an awesome day. Expedition GeForce without a line and running in ejector mode always makes me happy. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil jimmy norton Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Those are some very cool pictures man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilolee Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Great TR and awesome pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMorgan Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Robin! Your pictures are, as always, amazing! So artsy, I feel smarter just by completing the thread : ) Thanks for tipping me off to your post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMorgan Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Oh, and I can't believe the drama you had to go through to get home! What a nightmare. How's the claims going to get your money back? Who do you even lodge a complaint with in that case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUSHIE Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 So wait... why are the pictures incredibly red? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinschroder Posted September 24, 2008 Author Share Posted September 24, 2008 ^ That's what happens when you process Fuji Velvia slide film (deliberately) using the wrong chemicals (- those that are intended for normal negative films like your Fuji Superias or Kodak Ultras etc.). It's called 'cross-processing'. The blue shots are from AGFA CT Precisa slide film through the same process. ^^ I tried to claim this all back from Eurostar (since my travel insurance company didn't want to know) but... Royal Mail went and lost the letter containing all of my original tickets and receipts even though I sent it Recorded Delivery... nice! Fortunately I had photocopies so I posted those off yesterday Special Delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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